Chamber hits back at critics

THE Ba Chamber of Commerce and Industry insists that all tenders and the awarding of contracts for the construction of Ba's new hospital has been done in good faith.

On Wednesday evening, a ground-breaking ceremony was held to signal the start of construction works for the hospital, which the chamber is facilitating through a public-private partnership with the government, at Clopcott.

"I would like to remind all those individuals who have had doubts about the transparency of the tendering and contract award process of this project that all decisions are based on the consensus of all parties represented on the New Hospital Project Committee" said chamber president, Dinesh Patel.

"A stringent process is followed at the committee meetings before any decision is made, so please refrain from being cowboys who shoot first and ask questions later."

The project is estimated to cost about $25million, with New Zealand-based Design Hut and Stephenson and Turner recently appointed as architects.

Under the partnership with government, the chamber's tasks include lining up donor organisations to assist with funding and equipment.

Mr Patel said civil contractors would be appointed within the next two weeks and that he had personally carried out fruitful meetings to secure future aid for medical supplies from donor organisations.